Tag: #Soccer

  • USA v Belgium (Trump Ruins Everything)

    Monday’s 4-1 USA loss to Belgium was an embarrassment. The USMNT looked scared and timed out there. They couldn’t complete a pass, they were hesitant, and completely got manhandled by mediocre Belgium team. In all honesty, the score could have easily been 6-1. The world Cup Round of 16 is no joke, and not for half ass teams. If you don’t believe me, look at the England v Mexico match, or what Argentina just pulled off on Egypt. In this round, you come to play and give it all to win.

    So, what happened to Team USA?

    In all honesty, I never picked USA to win it all. But what I had seen in the group stage, and how they play against Bosnia lead me to believe that Pochettino had put together a team, and got them into the right head space to not only compete, but to go out there and expect to win. And putting up a good showing is worth it in the World Cup. Telling the world, we came to play, and you need to take us seriously is also part of the exercise. It isn’t always about being the strongest, or the best player in the world. It’s about getting a team to believe that the deserve to be on this stage. Getting a group of players to focus, work as one with a common purpose, and step up with others faulter. It’s about confidence; Sometimes it takes months if not years to build it, but it only takes a second to destroy it.

    And that’s what Trump did to Team USA – his killed their confidence.

    Was the Red Card on Folarin Balogun bullshit? Yes, it was. It shouldn’t have been called. But that’s the game. Refs make the wrong call all the time. You can complain about it. You can protest, but at the end of the day, this is how the game works. All professional sports works this way. There will never be a game where everything is called perfect. The mistakes are part of the game. Overcoming a wrong call, and still winning is what gets you respect from your opponent.

    Trump whining to Gianni Infantino is true to Trump’s brand. He constantly feels like he’s being treated unfairly and complains. Infantino giving in to the complaint was egregious, and just proves how corrupt Gianni Infantino and all of FIFA’s administration is – they will do whatever to keep the money flowing to their pockets. So, shame on FIFA.

    For Belgium, this just added fuel to their fire to show how good they are. They played with a mission to humiliate the USA. To show that Trump’s and FIFA’s meddling was bluntly crass manipulation to engineer a result that was underserved. And that’s what Belgium did. And then they mocked Trump’s dance.

    But it wouldn’t have been the 4-1 drumming if Team USA had just a tad bit of confidence. But how could they, after what Trump had done. There was no winning this game for USMNT. See, if they won the game, then the world would view it as a rigged result. And the team knew it. Everything they did out there was second guessed in the minds. The best example was Matt Freese’s muffed pass that was converted to a goal. You can see in his eyes he just wasn’t sure where to put the ball, which caused his foot to drag on the pitch.

    If Trump would have kept his mouth shut, even if Team USA lost the way they lost, a level of respect would have been earned. But with Trump getting involved, only a loss, an awful, sad, humiliating loss could have expunged the stink of favoritism off the team.

    See, Trump only cares about winning, because he sure as hell didn’t say anything positive or encouraging about Team USA after that match. No, he was nowhere to be seen.

    I want to add that Folarin Balogun didn’t deserve any of this. He showed a courage, grace, and professionalism in the face of unbelievable pressure. He put his head down and played. I would like to say to Folarin Balogun, sorry our President is such a dick and shit on your moment on the world stage that you worked so hard to achieve.

  • Tottenham Dodged That Bullet (Unedited)

    I was out of town this past weekend for Memorial Day. The wife had found a cabin in the Vermont woods. A very last minute find and deal at the same time. I say all of this because we, as a family, were attempting to disconnect for three days in the woods and spend time together.

    Except for Sunday morning, when I had to take my phone, and hide in the back bedroom to watch and see if Tottenham was going to get relegated.

    I, several times in fact, had written off Tottenham Hotspur’s season. I had high hopes with Thomas Frank coming in at the start of the season, but I had hope, so there was my first mistake. I gave up on the team, first time around, at the end of 2025. For me, that was the moment that I realized that Spurs was not going to make the top six on the table, so not chance for European play next season. Then I gave up on the team, the second time, when they sacked Frank. Then the third time of giving up on them was when it looked like they were about to get relegated, and West Ham was going to squeak by.

    But the “Relegation Fight” turned out to be way more exciting than I expected. Exciting in a gallows humor sense, I guess. I mean, I was expecting the worst. And to be honest, I sort of felt like the club deserved it. (Not the players, of course. I don’t fully blame them for what happened.) Almost seven years of mismanagement was finally coming to a head, and in a weird way, I thought the only way for Spurs ownership to learn their lesson was for them to go down to the Championship, pay out the nose, and have a half full world class stadium on match day. And the true salt in the wound would be how American football would come into Hotspur Stadium and sell the place out.

    What I got was a mediocre match between Tottenham and Everton. The person I felt very back for was Pickford giving up a goal to these losers. (Good thing Pickford plays better in the World Cup than for his club.) But a winning goal is still a winning goal, and though Tottenham could have made it through with a draw, I was happy that the season did end on a win.

    That will leave next season. I hope Madison stays healthy and can get back into the starting lineup. Same thing for Kulusevski. Maybe some more help on the attack would be good. And the backline still feels like it’s missing one piece to make it solid. I’m not expecting Tottenham to win the League, but I would be happy with a top ten finish.

    Anyway… I got a World Cup to get through, and then I can start putting all my efforts into getting my hopes.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Make It Stop, Three Weeks, and Relax

    ODDS and ENDS: Make It Stop, Three Weeks, and Relax

    (Mama, I know we broke the rules…)

    I know the urban legend is that celebrities die in threes, but man, this week is really pushing the barrier on that old adage. It started with Malcolm-Jamal Warner, and then this week went wild; Ozzy, Hulk Hogan, Chuck Mangione, Connie Francis, and I will also throw in the tragic news that Anne Burrell’s death was caused by suicide. And there is part of me that feels like I am leaving a person or two off this list, but this is just who is popping into my head as I write this. Just kind’a a sad week, as it seems like God is making it pour…

    Hey! Premier League starts up in three weeks! And I am ready because Tottenham had just about the worst season a club could have without being relegated and still winning a tournament. But outside of that, 2024/25 was a trash-ass dumpster fire of a season, and we can only go up from here! The first bit of good news was the hiring of Thomas Frank as the teams new manager. They nicked Frank off of Brentford, which was another club that I like and followed slightly. Frank did an impressive job getting Brentford promoted from the Championship League to the Premier, and then keeping the club competitive ever since. I have high hopes for Frank’s tenure as Spurs manager. And I’m looking forward to the Fall and winter mornings, donning my Tottenham scarf, sitting in bed with my iPad, watching a match, and falling asleep by halftime.

    I need to work on relaxing. I’m not good at it. If I’m not doing something then I think I am falling behind and failing. Gotta work on that. But first I need to go and paint one of the alcoves in the living room…

  • ODDS and ENDS: Vacation, Euro Final, and The End of the World

    (And I knew there was no turning back…)

    I had been out of town for the past week and a half. You could call it a vacation, in the sense that I left the place where I lived and went someplace new. I was Texas, but it was a new town in Texas that I had never been to before. It was Sanger, TX which is small town country Texas. It had been over twenty years since I had been in a region of Texas that was so far removed from everything else in the world. Though that far out in the country is not a place I would like to live (I am a City kid, after all) having grown up in Texas, there is something comforting and reassuring about being in that world of Texas. Not that I even spent a huge amount of time in the country, but if you dive an hour in any direction from the DFW area, you hit flat land, dusty winds, and a feeling that the world goes on forever. I enjoyed my time in Sanger. Yes it was small, but it was small town friendly, and a good place to have a wedding. (I was there for a wedding, if I didn’t say that yet.) It was also fun to show my daughter, who is a real City Kid, what the country is really like.

    And as I was in Texas for a wedding, I wasn’t able to finish my Euro Cup observations. Well, though I was rooting for England, I never really thought they were going to win. Spain just looked dominating, and they seemed destined to win it all. Now, I will say that England put up a hell of a fight (at least that’s what the highlights I saw showed) and it was entertaining, but England will always be the bridesmaid of international football. England had better players, but Spain was the better team. I have a very odd feeling that this was Harry Kane’s last international tournament. With Southgate resigning, which was expected win or lose, I don’t see Kane wanting to stick around. Not that Harry wouldn’t make the squad, but something strikes me that Kane is ready to pass the torch, so to speak. Botton line, I thought the Euro Cup 2024 was exciting and fun and well worth paying the cable fees so I could watch all the matches.

    I don’t like being this guy, but lately, it does feel like the world is coming to an end. Hopefully, it will pass after November, 5th.

  • Euro Cup 2024 – A Casual Fan’s Impressions – Round of 16 Day 1 and Day 2

    The Group Stage was fun, but the Knock Out Rounds is why were all here. The best players step up, and the drama! So much drama!

    Day 1

    Switzerland v Italy

    I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that Italy would play so flat. The Italians played like a team that snuck into this round, while Switzerland behaved like they expect to make a deep run.

    Germany v Denmark

    I do have a soft spot for Denmark, but there was no way Germany was going to lose this match. Yeah, Germany clearly thinks this is their tournament.

    Day 2

    England v Slovakia

    Now, here was your drama match. Won’t lie, I was pulling for England, and for 80 minutes, they were playing to lose. England may have better players, but Slovakia was the better team. And yet, when England needed them, the better players showed up and have four amazing minutes. Bellingham and Kane are two dangerous players, and you can never count them out, or forget about them on the pitch. A goal in the last thirty seconds in stoppage time. A goal in the first few minutes of extra time. Slovakia played a better match, but games like this are why international tournaments are so much fun. Drama, drama, drama!

    Spain v Georgia

    For a few minutes, it looked like this might be a huge upset, and then Spain started playing. There really wasn’t much Georgia could do to stop Spain. Yeah, Spain is planning on winning this whole thing.

    Thoughts:

    Well, the England win was tons of fun, but I don’t think they will get by Switzerland. England has a couple days to figure out how to play like a team, and if they don’t Switzerland will pick them apart

    And Spain against Germany might just well be the match of the tournament; who wins this one will most likely win in all. I’m clearing my calendar for this one.